The tricky business of riffing on Ripley

   Patricia Highsmith secured her reputation as a brilliant writer of crime fiction with The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), a mystery followed by four more Ripley novels, the last appearing in 1991. Not that Highsmith was unknown before Ripley. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, appeared in 1950 and was adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. 

  A lesbian with a fondness for pet snails, Highsmith was quick to display her racism and anti-Semitism, as well as her contempt for those she considered to be less acute in their observations. American born, Highsmith lived most of her adult life as an expatriate. 

   Directed by Anton Corbijn (The American and Control), A Talent for Murder attempts to out-trick the tricky Highsmith, setting a high bar the movie can't quite jump over. Still, Joanna Murray-Smith expands her stage play to create a Ripley-like mystery that plumbs Highsmith levels of amorality.

    A Talent for Murder brings the fictional character of Edward Ridgeway (Alden Ehrenreich) into the story. A Highsmith devotee who's looking to build his a career, Ridgeway has been sent by Highsmith’s publisher to visit her secluded Swiss home. He's supposed to persuade her to write another lucrative Ripley novel. 

   On the train to Zurich, Ridgeway meets Clementine (Olivia Cooke), an appealing American who's on her way to visit a rich aunt. She's also about to become an heiress. 

     The stage is set for Helen Mirren to enter as the thoroughly unpleasant Highsmith. In an unattractive wig and minimal makeup, Mirren brings plenty of bite to an author whose walls include a collection of antique guns. To ingratiate himself with the reclusive Highsmith, Ridgeway brings her a knife she has been coveting along with cans of Campbell's soup she requested.

   On stage, A Talent for Murder was a two-hander in which Ridgeway and Highsmith sparred and jostled. On film, Ridgeway’s relationship with Clementine unfolds in ways that bring him into contact with an upper-class crowd.

   Initially, Highsmith outpoints Ridgeway, but Ehrenreich gives a cagey performance as an editor Highsmith constantly tests, often in humiliating fashion. The ultimate challenge for Ridgeway: Devise a way to get rid of a character in the Ripley mystery Highsmith considers writing. Is he clever enough to concoct a murder that will convince her to trust him?

   Miren bites into Highsmith’s sarcasm and superiority without seeking audience sympathy. Cooke adds spark as a young woman eager to take her own bite out of life, and  Ehrenreich’s performance boasts increasing complexity.

  The attempt to blend Highsmith’s story with Ridgeway’s may not fascinate in full Ripley fashion, but it plays well enough to keep us involved with these devious, calculating characters.